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| East/Subsaharan Africa |
| Al Qaeda blamed for Kenya attacks |
| 2002-11-28 |
| Kenya's ambassador to Israel says there is "no doubt" that al Qaeda was behind the car bombing of an Israeli-owned hotel in Kenya and a missile attack on an Israeli airliner. Israeli Radio reported that Kenyan police arrested two people suspected of involvement in the attacks. That's the bad part about this kind of operations, friom the Bad Guys' point of view: to make a kill, you've got to stick your head up, and when you stick your head up, you're exposing your support trail, too. There were conflicting reports on the number killed at the hotel on Thursday. John Malan Sawe, Kenyan Ambassador to Israel, said the hotel bombing killed at least 11 people and wounded 80 others. Later Kenya's internal security minster Julius Sunkuli, told Reuters there were "initial indications" that 14 people had died. "I do believe the people who have been responsible for terrorism all over the world must be the same people who have done it," Sawe said. "I believe it must be connected to al Qaeda and it's up to them to deny." Even if they didn't do it, they wouldn't deny it. Too many corpses to pass up the credit... According to Israel's Foreign Ministry, three Israelis were killed in the blast, including two children about eight years old. The other victims were Kenyans. An Israeli Army Radio report identified Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah, of Egyptian origin, and Faed Ali Sayam, a Kenyan Muslim, as two of the three suicide bombers at the hotel. The third attacker has not yet been identified, the report added. Since they weren't Hamas snuffies, or Hezbollah, they're likely al-Qaeda... A group calling itself the Army of Palestine claimed responsibility for both the suicide attack on the hotel and the missile attack on an Israeli airliner. In a faxed statement, the previously unheard-of group said it had sent two groups of attackers to Kenya to "make the world hear once again the voice of Palestinian refugees, and to cast light on Zionist terrorism in the West Bank and Gaza." The "Army of Palestine" is probably an al-Qaeda false nose and glasses setup. It'll likely never be heard from again — kind of like a throw-away corporation, like Enron used to set up... The owner of the Paradise Hotel which is in Malindi, north of Mombasa, said three men fought with security and drove into the hotel. Officials said at about 8:30 a.m. local time (0530 GMT) a vehicle pulled up to the entrance of the hotel and were refused entry. The men reversed the vehicle and drove through the gate and into the hotel reception area. One of them men blew himself up in the lobby while two others set off explosives packed into the car, the hotel owner said. Somehow the heroism of that kind of thing doesn't fit into the same category as attacking a machinegun nest, or taking out an enemy command center. Taking out a couple 8-year-olds looking forward to going swimming doesn't represent a really significant militarty target. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #2 "I believe it must be connected to al Qaeda and it's up to them to deny." Actually, Al Qaeda has followed recent trends in PR work and sub-contracted denials to Noam Chomsky, Robert "hit me again" Fisk, and Al Guardian, among others. It must be a profitable business. |
| Posted by: Sixth Column 2002-11-28 20:14:15 |
| #1 Nothing like a 1:1.7 kill ratio. Unarmed civilians, including Kenyan dancers in grass skirts, put up SO much resistance. |
| Posted by: Dan Hartung 2002-11-28 14:11:04 |